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MYCOLOGY

Utah Valley University - BIOL1620

This course section is entirely online. All assignments, quizzes, and exams will be turned in and taken on Canvas. My preferred contact method is our group Slack channel.

This webpage will host links to all resources and videos, and serves as a roadmap for the semester, listing readings, assignments, etc.

Course overview:

The course consists of several components:

  • Required readings
    • Textbook: Webster and Weber, Introduction to Fungi - 3rd ed. (specific sections)
    • Scientific papers: Usually weekly, linked below
    • Fun book: Mr. Bloomfield’s Orchard, by Nicholas Money
  • Weekly quizzes on reading material (on Canvas)
  • Assorted “home mycology” lab, research, and field exercises (on Canvas)
  • Exams (3 of these, on Canvas, open-note)

The course is broken into 4 rough sections:

1. Getting to know fungal biology and major groups (get ready for a bunch of mycological terminology)

2. Fungi as the enemy (human and plant pathogens, fungal distribution, secondary compounds)

3. Fungi as a friend (mutualistic symbioses)

4. Molecular mycology (intro to modern methods and fungal bioinformatics)

Course assumptions (about you):

  • You know how to read a phylogeny and argue whether a trait is ancestral or derived
  • You know how to find and read a scientific journal article
  • You can write intelligibly
  • You understand the following terms and concepts:
    • monophyletic, taxon, clade, outgroup
    • central dogma of biology
    • chromosome, locus, gene, variant, phenotype
    • niche, dispersal, genetic drift, diploid/haploid
    • respiration, oxidation/reduction
  • In other words, you’ve had (and paid attention to) the material from BIOL1610 and BIOL1620

Course Syllabus

Course Text Book

My Hillbilly Mycology resource page

Good web resources:

21st Century Guidebook to Fungi (This is pretty useful for this class!) Full download link for older edition (zipped).

“The Fifth Kingdom” website

Cornell’s Virtual Fungal Library (Extensive links to resources!)

Fungal Gene Database (Exactly what it sounds like.)

Emerging fungal diseases CDC resource page for those with a medical bent

Nice YouTube Channel with videos featuring do-it-at-home mycology

Table of Contents

Week 1 | Week 5 | Week 9 | Week 13

Week 2 | Week 6 | Week 10 | Week 14

Week 3 | Week 7 | Week 11 | Week 15

Week 4 | Week 8 | Week 12 | Week 16

Week 1

Topics:

  • What are fungi? | Chytrids and divergence from metazoa | Fungal phylogeny

Readings and Assignments

  • Study the lesson slides (link below)
  • Read James, et al., 2006
  • Read Webster & Weber: 1.1 | 1.5 | 6.1
  • Canvas quiz on readings (due before class Thursday)
  • Watch this video on how fungi changed the world. Watch it before next week.
  • Find and grow zygomycete fungi (Canvas assignment; video walkthrough below)
  • Buy this cool pocket microscope Amazon link (this is in lieu of your textbook fee)
  • Slack discussion on readings (Thursday 11:15am)

Resources

Videos

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Week 2

Topics

  • The “hyphal lifestyle” | Fungal physiology | Zygomycetes | Reproduction in fungi

Readings and Assignments

  • Read Fisher, et al., 2018 (Have a phylogeny of Zygomycetes at the ready while you read this)
  • Read Webster & Weber: 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 7.1 | 7.2 | 7.3.1 | 7.3.2
  • Canvas quiz on readings (due before class Thursday)
  • Slack discussion on readings (Thursday 11:15am)
  • Turn in your Zygomycete microscopy photos (Canvas)

Resources

Videos

  • Generic Zygomycete life cycle video
  • Another life cycle video
  • Zygospore formation video
  • Hyphal types video (though she mispronounces “coenocytic” … it’s like “see - no - sit - ic”)
  • Mucor as a human pathogen video
  • Mucor as a model of Zygomycete anatomy video (ridiculous music warning)
  • Cool time-lapse video of growing hyphae
  • Hyphal morphology video

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Week 3

Topics

  • Ascomycetes | Species concept in fungi | Anamorphs and Teleomorphs | Dikaryotism

Readings and Assignments

  • Read Webster & Weber: 8 | 10.2 | 12.1 | 12.2.1 | 17.2.6
  • Canvas quiz on readings (due before class Thursday)
  • Slack discussion on readings (Thursday 11:15am)
  • How many Ascomycete species exist? (Canvas assignment)

Resources

Videos

  • Good overview of Ascomycete characteristcs
  • Sordaria crossing over
  • How fungi helped us solve the central dogma of biology:
    • Part 1 (Why Neruospora crassa was the perfect model organism)
    • Part 2 (The famous Beadle and Tatum experiment)

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Week 4

Topics

  • Basidiomycetes

Readings and Assignments

  • Read Webster & Weber: 18 | 19.1 | 19.4.5 | 20.1 | 20.3 | 21.1 | 21.5
  • Canvas quiz on readings (due before class Thursday)
  • Slack discussion on readings (Thursday 11:15am)

Resources

Videos

  • Basidium formation
  • Spore discharge

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Week 5

Topics

  • Fungal development | Mushroom mechanics | Active dispersal | Mushroom ID

Readings and Assignments

  • Read Kiss, et al., 2019
  • Exam 1 (Covers material from weeks 1-4)
  • Fungal collections (5 types of macrofungi) and IDs (Turned in on Canvas next week)
    • Photo of fungus in its habitat
    • Photo of spore print and/or micrograph of spores
    • Description of each fungus according to the mushroom characters cheat sheet (below)
    • Tentative genus identification if you are feeling bold
  • LINK to an example for one collection.

Resources

Videos

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Week 6

Topics

  • Medical mycology

Readings and Assignments

Resources

Videos

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Week 7

Topics

  • Plant pathogens

Readings and Assignments

Resources

Videos

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Week 8

Topics

  • Distribution and dispersal | Population ecology

Readings and Assignments

Resources

Videos

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Week 9

Topics

  • Symbioses: Endophytes

Readings and Assignments

  • Read Christian, et al., 2017
  • Read Money: Chapter 3
  • Exam 2 (Covers material from weeks 5-8)
    • Development
    • Pathology
    • Distribution

Resources

Videos

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Week 10

Topics

  • Symbioses: Mycorrhizae

Readings and Assignments

  • Read Money: Chapter 4

Resources

Videos

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Week 11

Topics

  • Symbioses: Lichens

Readings and Assignments

Resources

Videos

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Week 12

Topics

  • Fungi and ecosystems

Readings and Assignments

Resources

Videos

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Week 13

Topics

  • Ethnomycology

Readings and Assignments

  • Read Dugan, 2008
  • Read Money: Chapter 8-9
  • Exam 3 (Covers material from weeks 9-12)
    • Symbioses
    • Ecology

Resources

Videos

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Week 14

Thanksgiving Break









Week 15

Topics

  • Molecular mycology | Intro to fungal bioinformatics

Readings and Assignments

Resources

Videos

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Week 16

Topics

  • Wrap-up

Readings and Assignments

  • Start on Final Exam

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Final Exam

For the Final Exam schedule, click here